Conclusion: The Need for Vigilance and Sacrifice

Abstract

The great power system has transformed over the last half-century. The limited but frequent wars that occurred from 1648 through 1914 were outgrowths of structural constraints on the ability of nations to wage wars against each other. As these constraints were lifted over the course of the 19th century, conflicts became increasingly destructive, culminating in the devastation of the World Wars and the danger of the early Cold War years. This period was not an aberration that can be blamed on deviant personalities or misguided military strategies, but rather was a function of competition becoming unstable in the context of the unleashed power of the state, the rise of Germany, Japan, and the United States, and advances in technology that allowed for people well behind borders to be killed extremely rapidly. For centuries, a significant degree of stability was possible despite minimal effort to create it. When the structural limitations on the use of violence by governments lifted, the result was the breakdown of an order based on the Balance of Power into a season of profound darkness.